On Friday, a group of students at Victoria University voted on behalf of the VCU to endorse Khrystyna Zhuk’s UTSU Board of Directors restructuring proposal.
The motion to vote on endorsing the proposal was brought forward by Thomas Zhang, a student in attendance at the event. The motion followed a presentation by VUSAC Vice President External Alex Martinborough on both the remaining proposals, Zhuk’s (referred to as Proposal B) and the one brought forward by Grayce Slobodian, colloquially referred to as Proposal E.
Students in attendance of the caucus, a forum held by VUSAC multiple times per year to discuss campus issues with the Victorian student body at large, represent Victorians at large in any motions brought to a vote in the caucus.
The endorsed proposal was worked on by some people in attendance, including VUSAC co-presidents Ben Atkins and Gabe Zoltan-Johan, as well as the UTSU’s Victoria College representatives, Steve Warner and Auni Ahsan. No parties involved in Proposal E were in attendance, despite claims by Zoltan-Johan that they had been notified of the event and given multiple opportunities to be present.
Both proposals maintain college representation, a response to the controversy surrounding last year’s proposal—voted down at the UTSU’s Annual General Meeting—that removed college representation on the UTSU Board of Directors entirely and replaced it with directors in charge of constituencies based upon marginalized groups. Proposal B would maintain the current number and structure of college representatives at 18, while Proposal E would reduce the number of college representatives to eight.
The proposals maintain the equity goals of the original UTSU proposal in different ways. Proposal E stipulates the creation of 12 commissions devoted to specific identity-based issues, with one elected representative heading each commission. Proposal B takes a more general approach with the creation of eight equity commissions devoted to these same issues, but with six appointed equity directors being led by an elected VP Equity, allowing for direct jurisdiction under multiple directors for any given issue.
“Last night, students of the VCU showed that they were very strongly in favour of endorsing a proposal that would maintain our representation while adding meaningful equity representation that addresses underserved aspects of the University of Toronto community,” Atkins said in a statement.
VUSAC is now constitutionally bound to advocate for the successful passage of Proposal B at this year’s Annual General Meeting, to be held on October 7. This involves raising awareness across campus about the proposal, the general meeting, and the requirements of the proposal.
Also at the caucus was a brief speech by newly minted Victoria College president, William Robins. This successor to Paul Gooch described a “wonderful” start to his tenure as president.
Later on in the evening, Victoria College Commuter Dons presented a plan to create a mass calendar of all events going on at Vic, including club and levy meetings. The calendar will be available to all students in Google Calendar format.
